The Morning After
by wooster182
Summary: This is a prediction one-shot of Burning Questions. How do Henry, Betty, and Gio all react to Betty's birthday? GxB


A/N: This is a prediction (wish) one-shot for Burning Questions. It begins directly after 24 Candles. I just want to take the time to thank all my Getty girls who support the writing and thinking and babbling process. I'd also like to give a shout out to all those who have been reading my little Getty romances or who review. Thanks for taking the time. It really means a lot. Now, on with the show…

The Morning After

Betty slowly started to awaken. She felt arms around her and she was trying to remember where she was. As her eyes opened, she saw the coffee table and floor and realized that she was in her house. Her body was stiff and tense. She told herself that it was because she had slept on the old, lumpy couch that night.

Sunlight spilled into the room. Sitting up, she looked down at her watch. It was 5:00 in the morning. Her eyes drifted to the skirt of her dress. Her dress was ruined. She smelled like hot chocolate. She chuckled at the memory. But she became pensive as she looked over at her purse. There was a crumpled white paper sticking out from the side of her purse. Pulling it out, she stared at it with a thoughtful frown. She could see Gio's face, smiling and apologetic as he held the napkin in front of him. At the time, she could not help but giggle from the comical scene.

But now as she held the napkin in her hand, she found herself struggling to breathe at the thought of his hand coming so close to her face. He had been so gentle as he wiped her cheek. He was much more…_something_…than she thought he was but she wasn't sure what the word was. Kind? She already knew that. Sensitive? That wasn't the right word either. But she was beginning to wonder if he was the player she had pictured him to be after all.

Glancing down at Henry, she stuffed the napkin back into her purse. She stood up and decided to go upstairs to take a shower. With each step, questions nagged her. Why did she put her head on Gio's shoulder? It had to be because of her dream. She had the impulse to fulfill that one fantasy and she did it. It meant nothing, really. She felt nothing as the soft leather of his jacket rubbed against her temple. She hadn't wished that he would put his arm around her. She just enjoyed the fireworks and friendship and that was all. She didn't keep the napkin for any reason. Turning around, she decided that she better pick up her purse and put it in her room.

About twenty minutes later, Henry woke up. Looking around, he saw that the house was still. His head was killing him because he had forgotten to take his antihistamines the day before. Deciding to try to find Betty, he went upstairs. He heard someone taking a shower and once he saw that she wasn't in her room, he deduced that it was her. He smiled at the thought of her being naked in the shower. But the headache soon overcame that thought and he just wanted something to stop the throbbing pain. Stepping further into her room, he searched for some Tylenol. He didn't really know where she kept anything in her room. He barely ever entered it, knowing that Ignacio would not appreciate it and he didn't want to do anything to agitate Ignacio even more.

Opening a drawer, he only found underwear and socks. On the top of the chest of drawers, he saw her sparkly purse. Guilt washed over him again about missing her birthday. Picking the purse up, he hoped that she had been her usual prepared self and had put a bottle of Tylenol in it.

What he found did not help his headache. He pulled the napkin out. It looked slightly stained and wrinkled. And it had a smiling pickle on it. _Gio_. Stepping over to her bed, he examined the purple dress she had left there. It looked like something had been spilled all over it. Things started to make sense. Now he knew why it had taken her forever to get home. Before he could formulate thoughts, he heard someone walk in behind him.

Cheerily, Betty came up behind him in her robe. "You're awake! Good morning, Henry."

He turned around and was clearly not as perky as she was. Holding up the napkin, he asked, "Betty, what is this?"

Her jaw dropped. "That was in my purse."

He shook his head. "I had a headache. I was looking for your Tylenol."

Trying to ignore the subject at hand, she moved towards the shelf in her room and said, "Here let me get you some."

"What were you doing with Gio?"

She stopped looking for the bottle. "Nothing. He just found me at the restaurant to tell me that you weren't coming to the restaurant."

His eyes shot flames of jealousy. "How did he know what I was doing?"

Irritated by his tone and feeling a little guilty, she said, "Uh, Amanda."

"Why were you at the restaurant?"

Now she was really getting tired of the questions. "Because I didn't get your message correctly. I sat there for over an hour waiting for you."

"But you weren't waiting alone were you?"

Angrily her eyes went wide. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Waving his hand in a sweeping manner, he said, "Gio was right there waiting." He looked at her, his eyes showing hurt and anger. "You promised me that you wouldn't see him."

She raised her hands in exasperation. "What was I supposed to do, Henry? You had stood me up—"

Henry interrupted, saying, "I did not—"

She spoke more forcefully, cutting him off. "You weren't there. And he came with a carriage—"

His eyebrows nearly rose off of his forehead. "A carriage? Which how-to-date book did he pick that up from?"

She squirmed defensively. "He wasn't trying to pick me up. He wanted to do something nice for me, to make my birthday as special as possible."

"Like I wasn't able to?"

She blinked. "I didn't say that."

He crumpled the napkin in his hands and tossed it onto the ground. "How long did it take you to break your promise, Betty?"

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Oh, I don't know. About as long as it took you to figure out that Charlie duped you."

"You told me to stay with her," he said quietly.

"And I told you that I'd stay away from Gio. I guess everything's my fault, right?"

His back perfectly straight, he asked, "Well, why did you break your promise?"

Her voice became shrill. "Because I wanted to be happy on my birthday!"

His voice dropped and was barely audible when he asked, "Are you happy, Betty? With me?"

She could hear the pain in his voice and her shoulders drooped. Her anger instantly disappeared. "Yes, Henry. I'm happy."

He lowered his head sheepishly. "But how could you be? I'm keeping you from so many things."

She walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to."

He kissed her softly on the lips. "I'm going to go home and clean up. Do you want to meet for lunch and then go see a movie?"

She smiled. "Sure."

They kissed again and then left the room. Looking down at the floor, she bent over and picked up the napkin. Smoothing it out, she stared at it again for what seemed like hours. Her thumb rubbed across the coarse paper one final time and then she let it drop into the trashcan.

………………………………**..**

Gio could barely concentrate as he tried to open the deli for the day. It was a Saturday morning, so he knew he wouldn't get a crowd for a couple more hours and he was glad of that for once. The only voice he heard in his head was Betty's. Hers was the only face he saw when he closed his eyes.

He had felt like such an idiot for trying to recreate her fantasy. It had failed horribly. And he hadn't seen her in forever; he wasn't even sure if she still considered him a friend. Hell, he wasn't sure if she had ever considered him a friend. She wanted to be there with Henry and all she got was crappy stories from him and hot chocolate all over her dress. He had screwed up.

But maybe he didn't. When she had looked at him during the 'fireworks,' he could barely tear his eyes away from her. He could look at her always. And then she did it. She had put her head on his shoulder and he felt like every nerve in his body would quake. She had finally touched him. Willingly. It wasn't like that hug in Daniel's office. She had wanted to be close to him this time. She had given in to…_something_…and decided to rest her head on him.

Screw fantasies. Nothing was better than this reality.

After months of thinking he had no chance, she had put her head on his shoulder, sweetly, comfortably, willingly. Maybe—just maybe—she felt something too. Maybe Henry wasn't her only wish. Maybe she would finally see that he could be the best friend and lover to her that she'd ever need.

But at the moment, he'd settle for just talking to her again. Damn, he didn't realize how much he had missed talking to her until she had spoken his name, until she had laughed with him, until she had hit him in the arm and discussed books again. He missed all of it. He had missed her.

He wondered if she would go to work today. Daniel always kept her busy. Maybe he could stop by during his break and see if she was ever going to get those stains out from her dress.

As he was lost in thought, he heard the bell above the door clink and he realized he needed to focus. When he looked up, his face tried not to drop. "Henry, are you looking for a sandwich, man?"

Every muscle Henry had flexed and his skin was jumping. "No, I'm looking for answers."

Gio cockily raised his eyebrows. "We're fresh out of those today, pal, but I can ask my supplier tomorrow."

He was in no mood for jokes. "What did you think you were doing with Betty last night?"

Gio looked away. This wasn't going to be a friendly discussion. He took off his apron and set it on the counter. "Look, Henry, I told Betty that I wasn't trying to replace you."

Henry's stomach lunged at hearing Gio say her name. "Then what were you trying to do?"

Gio came from around the counter and stood in front of him. "I just thought she could use some fun. It was such an unhappy birthday."

The fact that Gio's words echoed Betty's unnerved him. "It's not your job to make her happy."

Gio put his hands on his hips. "I didn't realize we had designated jobs. Is there a flow chart I could look at?"

Henry's voice was shaky. "You don't have a job."

"So you're saying I'm not supposed to help out a friend?"

Henry stared him down as much as he could. "You're not that stupid. And neither am I. We both know you're not Betty's friend."

Gio sighed. "What do you want me to say, man? I'm not going to apologize for helping her out."

Henry held his ground. "I want you to stay away from Betty."

Gio stared at him, blinking. Then he busted out laughing. "You ask Betty about this first?"

He shook his head slightly. "She agrees with me."

Doubt crept into Gio's mind but the vision of Betty the night before pushed it back out. "That doesn't sound like her."

Henry stepped closer. "You don't know her."

Gio's eyes flickered with anger and amusement. "I know her better than you think."

Henry's eyes got big. "What does that mean?"

Gio pointed at him. "I know that she's hurting and wants out of this purgatory you got her in. I know that while you're out with the woman you knocked up, she's talking to me."

Menacingly, Henry said, "Leave Charlie out of this."

Finally, Gio's patience ran out. "Why? You obviously didn't leave Charlie out of this. You wouldn't even be leaving Betty had you not screwed over the girl you left for Betty." When he saw Henry's shocked face at this information, he said, "I told you Betty talks to me. She talks to me when you've got your head too far up your ass to notice her—which seems like pretty often."

The idea of Betty constantly talking to Gio and jealousy of what they did the night before erupted into passion he not often felt. In one swift motion, he punched Gio hard in the face.

Gio stumbled back into a table and chair. His hand reached out for the table so that he wouldn't fall. Once he stood up, he glared at Henry, his arms in front of him, his hands in fists. "You stupid son of a bitch. I suggest you leave my deli before I decide to hit you back."

Henry, shocked by his own actions, stepped backwards until he found the door. He gave Gio one last look. "Stay away from Betty."

Gio rubbed his nose and then gave a cocky smile. "You know Betty so well, Henry. What do you think she'd do if she knew you hit me?"

Quietly but firmly, Henry said, "Betty loves me."

Gio scoffed. "Betty loves the fantasy of you."

Henry squinted at him unbelieving and left.

Gio went to the window and watched him walk away. Just as Henry's figure disappeared into the distance, Gio knew that the fantasy was fading.

He was still angry. His face hurt like hell and was starting to throb. He put his hand on his shoulder and smiled. If Henry was afraid enough of him to hit him, then he was afraid that Betty was changing her mind.

Betty was great. And good. And nice. And she wasn't going to need a fantasy for very long.

the end.


End file.
